Report: Atkins obese when he died

NEW YORK — The debate over Dr. Robert Atkins' popular high-fat, low-carb diet flared posthumously Tuesday when it was learned that Atkins himself was a bloated 258 pounds at his death.

A city medical examiner's report filed after Atkins' 2003 death from a fall showed the 6-foot doctor was at a weight normally considered obese. A physicians group that is highly critical of the diet released details of the report, claiming the Atkins diet led to weight and heart troubles for its 72-year-old creator.

Atkins' allies immediately disputed that.

The Atkins Physicians Council said the carbohydrate-shunning doctor gained more than 60 pounds through fluid retention in the eight days he spent in a coma before dying in April. He had slipped on an icy street and hit his head.

Atkins weighed 195 pounds when he was admitted, the group's chairman said.

"Critically ill patients, when sustained on fluids in the hospital, gain weight," said Dr. Stuart Trager, chairman of the Atkins Physicians Council, a group affiliated with the Atkins diet empire.

"He was grossly swollen, so much so that his family and associates barely recognized him."